Контрольное задание № 2 Вариант 1

1. Перепишите следующие предложения; подчеркните в каждом из них глагол сказуемое и определите его временную форму и залог. Переведите предложения на русский язык. Обратите внимание на перевод пассивных конструкций.

1. The theory of interaction of atmospheric and oceanic processes is being developed to determine the weather of the planet.

2. Great changes in people’s lives and work were brought about by the scientific and technological progress.

3. Radio astronomy has given the mankind the efficient means for penetration into space.

4. The results of our research are very much spoken about.

2. Перепишите следующие предложения; подчеркните Participle I и Participle II и установите функции каждых, т.е. укажите, является ли оно определением, обстоятельством или частью глагола-сказуемого. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1. A molecule is a compound consisting of two or more atoms.

2. When heated glass can be easily worked.

3. Some new properties of the polymer found during the experiments were quite unexpected.

4. The assistant was preparing the solution very carefully.

3. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их на русский язык, обращая внимание на бессоюзное подчинение.

1. The plant the material is produced is in the Urals.

2. The problem this article deals with is connected with the subject we study.

3. We know electricity produces heat.

4. Перепишите предложения их на русский язык, обращая внимание на разные значения глаголов to be, to have, to do.

1. This important problem had been solved by the end of 1985.

2. Television has a great number of uses nowadays.

3. In the next few years Russian engineers are to complete the work on supercomputers.

4. Do you know the meaning of this word?

5. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их на русский язык, обращая внимание на функции инфинитива.

1. To develop a new submersible craft with a manipulator is not an easy task.

2. Experiments helped Mendeleyev to discover the properties of new chemical elements.

3. Recently a radar to be mounted on cars has been developed.

4. They promised to supply us with necessary equipment

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THE FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLES

All of the simple particles which exist in nature have been found to undergo reactions in which they are converted into or obtained from other particles or radiation. There are, then, no particles which can be said to be truly fundamental.

The electron was the first of the simple particles to be recognized, it being discovered by J.J. Thomson in 1897. The proton, the nucleus of the ordinary hydrogen atom, was observed as positively charged rays in a discharge tube. The nature of the rays was not at first understood. The next very simple particle to be discovered was the positron, found in 1932. The positrons were found among the particles produced by the interaction of cosmic rays with matter. They seem to be identical with electrons except that their charge is +e instead of -e. Their span of life as free particles is very short, it being less than a microsecond (1x10^-6 sec).

The neutron is known to have been discovered by the English physicist J. Chadwick, also in the year 1932. Neutrons have been found to be particles with mass only slightly larger than that of the proton, and with zero electric charge. They having no electric charge, neutrons interact with other forms of matter only very weakly, and it is accordingly hard to prove their existence by direct method. On passage through solid substances they undergo deflection only when they approach extremely closely to nuclei, that is, when they undergo direct collisions with nuclei. Neutrons and nuclei being so small, the chance of collision is very small and neutrons are accordingly able to penetrate through great thicknesses of heavy elements.

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Automation

"Automation" is a new word for a new purpose. Ordinarily automation is any improvement in the control of some activity or process by non-human, i.e. automatic means, but sometimes the term is defined more narrowly. Recent steps in automation have followed each other with unusual speed. Many people are surprised to learn that in industries like chemical and oil-refining entire processes have become very nearly automatic. They want to know how this has happened.

Electronic computers are becoming very good at routine clerical work in offices and factories.

Automation has many sides. It includes, for example, developments that are no more than advanced mechanization – transfer-machines in engineering, many kinds of machinery for making finished goods, and mechanical equipment for handling and assembly. Machines of this kind are automatic that they do the actual work on their own; the operators only watch them and correct them whenever they go wrong – when, for instance, tools wear out.

But automation can also mean automatic control of processes and machinery, and this is a very different thing from mechanization, though the two go together. Control is necessary in a vast number of processes in order to maintain the quality of a product when the operating conditions, such as temperature and pressure, change from time to time

Вариант 2

1. Перепишите следующие предложения; подчеркните в каждом из них глагол сказуемое и определите его временную форму и залог. Переведите предложения на русский язык. Обратите внимание на перевод пассивных конструкций.

1. Computers and lasers are being widely introduced at plants and factories.

2. Some powerful radio stations have recently been built in the northern regions.

3. The intensity of this process is influenced by many factors.

4. Russian chemical science is successfully solving many complex problems.

2. Перепишите следующие предложения; подчеркните Participle I и Participle II и установите функции каждых, т.е. укажите, является ли оно определением, обстоятельством или частью глагола-сказуемого. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1. Combining hydrogen with oxygen in the proportion of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen we produce water.

2. The investigations analysed resulted in an interesting discovery.

3. One can use several modern devices while detecting and measuring radioactivity.

4. Mankind has never experienced changes in life and work on such a scale.

3. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их на русский язык, обращая внимание на бессоюзное подчинение.

1. The methods we have just described are very effective.

2. For a long time Bell couldn’t get the results he was looking for.

3. I think he has made a mistake in his calculations.

4. Перепишите предложения их на русский язык, обращая внимание на разные значения глаголов to be, to have, to do.

1. Such metals as iron, cobalt, nickel and some alloys are much more magnetic than any other substances.

2. Weightlessness is created on the Earth, but only for a few seconds.

3. In the past messages to and from Europe had to be sent by ship.

4. This machine doesn’t work, it hasn’t worked for years.

5. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их на русский язык, обращая внимание на функции инфинитива.

1. A special electric device signals the engine to stop.

2. Materials used for superliners structure must be strong enough to withstand the air resistance at high speeds.

3. Lasers to be placed on Earth satellites will transform solar radiation into laser beams.

4. Our plant was the first to install the automatic equipment.

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The fastest computers of the world.

One of sensations presently is the supercomputer. They can look as a small case, or a curbstone near a table. Business and its requirements for calculations grow, together with it the supercomputer develops also. It differs from the usual computer in additional - processors and hard disks. For increasing of working frequency special processors are used.

They are executed on the logic circuits. The style programming is determined by use of group parallel of processors. We can divide given on a portion between different processors. Each of processor carries out a part of work together with others. During process they exchange the data. Modern supercomputers are expansion. You can add processors for acceleration of

calculation. For the reference to external memory, the processor should use the circuit of transfer of the information. The new computers help the petroleum companies to estimate possible reserves of petroleum and gas, by data processing. They can simulate outflow of raw material from tanks.

The manufacturers of automobiles can imitate an impact of the prototype about a wall. It allows to let out more reliable and powerful production. The supercomputers are used at telephone stations. The orders of steel are to be processed quickly. Consultator, which serves the buyers, enters the applications for a line. They act on processing or immediately, or periodically.

The decisive triumph, can, consists in penetration of multiprocessor architecture into all personal computers.

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COMPUTER SCIENCE

1. Computer science is a part of an applied mathematics. Specialists in computer science say that this field of knowledge is very interesting because it deals with computer-aided-design (CAD) and computer-aided-manufacturing (CAM).

2. Computers are intended to improve the productivity of labour of scientists, designers, engineers, managers, and other specialists, because computers offer quick and optimal solutions. One of the main goals of using CAD/CAM is to shorten the time between designing and manufacturing.

3. Moreover, computers came in our life and to our houses and now we can solve our everyday problems with their help.

4. Computers can be divided into simple and complex devices. Simple computers such as calculators can perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. As far as complex computers are concerned they can do different logical operations and some of them even have artificial intelligence.

5. Thus in order to elaborate up-to-date and inexpensive programs as well as to defend them from viruses, it is important to know some programming languages.

6. There are low-level programming languages such as a machine language and an assembly language and high-level programming languages, for instance, FORTRAN, PASCAL, ADA, C, BASIC, etc.

Вариант 3

1. Перепишите следующие предложения; подчеркните в каждом из них глагол сказуемое и определите его временную форму и залог. Переведите предложения на русский язык. Обратите внимание на перевод пассивных конструкций.

1. Scientists have been looking for the substance as a source of energy for many years.

2. Becquerel‘s discovery was followed by the intensive research work of Marie and Pierre Curie.

3. New methods of obtaining polymers have been applied at our plant.

4. The lecturer is listened to with great interest.

2. Перепишите следующие предложения; подчеркните Participle I и Participle II и установите функции каждых, т.е. укажите, является ли оно определением, обстоятельством или частью глагола-сказуемого. Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1. Matter consists of one or a number of basic elements occurring in nature.

2. Unless properly treated the metal can not be used for space technology.

3. While working at a new transmitter for deaf people Bell invented a telephone.

4. The air in many cities has been polluted by traffic and industry.

3. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их на русский язык, обращая внимание на бессоюзное подчинение.

1. The information science gets about other galaxies comes through radioscopes.

2. We know radio and radar systems play a very important role at any airport.

3. Every substance a man comes in contact with consists of molecules.

4. Перепишите предложения их на русский язык, обращая внимание на разные значения глаголов to be, to have, to do.

1. Experiments for industrial production of materials in space are being carried out in many countries.

2. A historian has to study a lot of various facts to reconstruct the far past.

3. The quality of these metal parts is to be very high.

4. He does his work in time.

5. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их на русский язык, обращая внимание на функции инфинитива.

1. High temperature alloys make it possible for jet engines to be operating for a long period of time.

2. In a new Japanese car the information to be received by the driver will come through a navigation earth satellite.

3. There is no doubt that mankind ill be able to explore the solar system by using the nuclear rockets.

4. To design new building is the work of an architect.

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NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY

Atoms are known to undergo certain changes, however, which cannot be explained by changes in the configuration of atomic electrons.

H. Becquerel was the first to notice that a crystal of a salt of uranium placed on a photographic plate in the dark affected the plate so that an image of the crystal appeared. He concluded this effect to have been caused by the emission of some kind of ray from uranium.

Shortly after his discovery, the Curies found the intensity of the rays emitted by the pitchblende ore from which uranium is obtained to be greater than would be expected from a knowledge of the uranium content.

The enhanced activity was proved to be due to a previously unknown element radium, which occupies the position below barium in Group II of the periodic table.

It was shown that the rays emitted by radium consist of two kinds of particles, called A-particles and B-particles, and an electromagnetic radiation called Y-rays, having a wave length of the same order as that of X-rays. A-particles have been shown to be the nuclei of helium atoms. They are emitted from radium with a speed of about 15,000 miles per second and are able to penetrate a few cm of air, or very thin aluminium foil.

B-rays are electrons; their speed is about 100,000 miles per second.

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METALS AND NONMETALS

1. There are some distinctions between metals and nonmetals. Metals are distinguished from nonmetals by their high conductivity for heat and electricity, by metallic lustre and by their resistance to electric current. Their use in industry is explained not only by those properties, but also by the fact that their properties, such as strength and hardness, can be greatly improved by alloying them with other metals.

2. There are several important groups of metals and alloys. The common metals such as iron, copper, zinc, etc. are produced in great quantities.

3. The so-called precious metals include silver, gold, platinum and palladium. The light metals are aluminium, berillium and titanium. They are important in aircraft and rocket construction.

4. Many elements are classified as semimetals (bismuth, for example) because they have much poorer conductivity than common metals.

5. Nonmetals (carbon, silicon, sulphur) in the solid state are usually brittle materials without metallic lustre and are usually poor conductors of electricity. Nonmetals show greater variety of chemical properties than common metals do.

6. Metals can undergo corrosion, changing in this case their chemical and electromechanical properties. In order to protect metals from corrosion the products made of metals and steel are coated by some films (coatings). Organic coatings protect metals and steel from corrosion by forming a corrosion-resistant barrier between metal or steel and the corrosive environment.

Тексты для дополнительного чтения.

EMULSIONS

An emulsion represents a disperse system in which the phases are immiscible or partly immiscible liquids.

In nearly all emulsions, one of the phases is aqueous and the other is an oil. If the oil is the disperse phase, the emulsion is termed an oil in water (o/w) one, if the aqueous medium is the disperse phase, the emulsion is termed a water in oil (w/o) one.

If one shakes vigorously a vessel containing two immiscible liquids, both liquids are broken up into droplets whose size depends upon the viscosity of the liquid, surface, interfacial tensions and the vigor of the shaking. As soon as the mechanical dispersive action ceases, the droplets begin to coalesce in order that the total surface free energy may be reduced. Most often, particularly in the case of two pure liquids, the coalescence process is rapid, and within a very few minutes the system consists only of two liquid layers. In the presence of small amounts of additional components, termed emulsifiers, the rate of coalescence of the droplets may be greatly reduced. Emulsions are intrinsically unstable, thus resembling lyophobic colloids. Three distinct kinds of instability are found to exist, each may be of great, importance in industrial products.

Emulsions may "cream", i.e. separate into layers of aqueous phase with a concentrated layer of oil droplets floating on top, the rate depending primarily on the viscosity of the aqueous phase, the size of droplets, and the density difference between the aqueous phase and the droplets. They may also flocculate as do other lyophobic colloids. The floes, being larger than the individual drops, have a higher creaming rate.

NATURE OF ELECTRIC CURRENT

In the modern conception of the constitution of matter it is composed of atoms. The atom is made up of a positive nucleus surrounded by negative charges of electricity, called electrons, which revolve about the nucleus at tremendous speeds. The nucleus consists of a number of protons, each with a single positive charge, and, except for hydrogen, one or more neutrons, which have no charge. The atom is neutral when it contains equal numbers of electrons and protons. A negatively charged body contains more electrons than protons. A positively charged body is one which contains fewer electrons than its normal number.

When the two ends of a conductor are connected to two points at different potentials, such as the terminals of a battery, we say that there is an electric current in the conductor. What actually happens?

The conductor has equal numbers of positive and negative charges in its atoms, and we want to know how the charges can be made to produce a current. The atoms in metals are packed so closely that they overlap to some extent, so that it is comparatively easy for the outer electrons to pass from one atom to another if a small force is applied to them. The battery causes a potential difference between the ends of the wire, and thus provides forces that make the negative electrons in the wire move toward the point of higher potential. This electron flow toward the positive electrode is the electric current. Naturally, materials differ considerably in the ease with which electrons can be made to migrate from atom to atom.

The current will not flow unless there is an electric circuit. The magnitude of the current depends simply on the rate of flow of electrons along the conductor.

RELAY COMPUTERS

Even in the 40s the primary speed limit on these rudimentary computers was mechanical, so developers looked to other technologies to build their computers. Bell Telephone Laboratories began work on relay-based computers in 1938. A relay is an electrically controlled switch-one source of electricity activates an electromagnet which operates a switch which, in turn, alters the electrical flow in another circuit. Relays are a hybrid technology, electro-mechanical. Their mechanical side performs physical work while their electrical nature makes them very flexible. One relay can control other$ almost unlimited in number and distance. The gears and levers of purely mechanical calculators are limited in reach in both regards.

The choice of relay technology was a natural one for the telephone company. After all, the telephone switching systems of the time made extensive use of relays-rooms and rooms filled with them.

Information science with the ideas and message of processing and storing information is of great importance today. That's why computer technology must be told in secondary school. The new subject 'basic information science', and 'computing machine' was introduced for the senior forms at schools. The pupils teach computers to investigate school problems. Contact with the machine increases the interest in learning, makes them more serious about studying new subject. School computers are used not only for studying information science, but also examinations purposes. Young people who finish the school must be trained to operate computers.

Automatic control

History provides very early examples of automatic control, but they were little used in industry. Progress was slow until last century, but it received an important stimulus from the military needs of the last war and the pace has accelerated. Automatic control is most advanced in industries like chemicals, oil-refining and food-processing, where materials are easy to handle. Because of it these industries have become highly automatic without any of the well-known inventions, such as transfer-machines and electronic computers. Control is also largely automatic in the manufacture of goods so different as iron and steel, cement and paper.

A system of control usually consists of three basic units – one that measures, one that controls, and one that corrects. If, for example, the condition to be controlled is the temperature of the boiler, the measuring unit records what is happening to the temperature and tells the controlling unit, which compares the actual temperature with what it should be and then tells the correcting unit to adjust a steam valve and so correct the temperature.

Controlling instruments are pneumatic, mechanical or hydraulic, and electric. Electric or electronic units are fast and able to send signals over long distances so giving "remote" control.

Automatic control is perhaps best known in plants where production is continuous, such as oil-refineries, but it is also found in factories that produce in batches.

Engines

Do you know what the first engine was like? It was called the "water wheel". This was an ordinary wheel with blades fixed to it, and the current of a river turned it. These first engines were used for irrigating fields.

Then a wind-powered engine was invented. This was a wheel, but a very small one. Long wide wooden blades were attached to it. The new engine was driven by the wind. Some of these one can still see in the country.

Both of these, the water- and wind-operated engines are very economical. They do not need fuel in order to function. But they are dependent on the weather.

Many years passed and people invented a new engine, one operated by steam. In a steam engine, there is a furnace and a boiler. The furnace is filled with wood or coal and then lit. The fire heats the water in the boiler and when it boils, it turns into steam which does some useful work.

The more coal is put in the furnace, the stronger the fire is burning. The more steam there is the faster a train or a boat is moving.

The steam engine drove all sorts of machines, for example, steam ships and steam locomotives. Indeed, the very first aeroplane built by A.F. Mozhaisky also had a steam engine. However, the steam engine had its disadvantages. It was too large and heavy, and needed too much fuel.

The imperfections of the steam engine led to the design of a new type. It was called the internal combustion engine, because its fuel ignites and burns inside the engine itself and not in a furnace. It is smaller and lighter than a steam engine because it does not have a boiler. It is also more powerful, as it uses better-quality fuel: petrol or kerosene.

The internal combustion engine is now used in cars, diesel locomotives and motor ships. But to enable aeroplanes to fly faster than the speed of sound another, more powerful engine was needed. Eventually, one was invented and it was given the name "jet engine". The gases in it reach the temperature of over a thousand degrees. It is made of a very resistant metal so that it will no melt.

Getting into Deep Water

The dark depths of the Gulf of Mexico, once frequented by only the sea creatures, are now alive with human activity. Miniature submarines and robot-like vehicles move around the ocean bottom while divers make their way around incredible underwater structures -taller than New York City skyscrapers but almost totally beneath the surface of the waves. Modern-day explorers are using technology worth of Jules Verne and Jakques Cousteau to find fresh supplies of oil and natural gas.

Until recently, drilling in the Gulf was concentrated close to shore in water as deep as 9 m. But now the scientists are looking to hundreds of meters deep and 160 km and more from land.

The deep water research began in 1984. Since many American companies have built the world's deepest production platforms of more than 100 stories high. Finding gas and oil deposites at large depth is not an easy technological task.

Laser Technology

In the last decade there was outstanding progress in the development of laser technology and its application in science, industry and commerce. Laser cutting, welding and machining are beginning to be big business. The market for laser systems represents around 2,5 % of the world machine tool market.

Which country is the biggest producer and consumer of lasers? Why, Japan, naturally: Japan produced 46% of world's lasers in 1989, while figures for Europe and the USA are 32% and 22%. Japan is building 1 200 to 2 000 CO₂ lasers per year of which some 95% are over 500 W power and 80% of them are used for cutting operations.

Europe is the second largest user and the third largest producer. In 1990 Europe's market for lasers was $ 128 million, of which Germany consumed about $ 51 million, and Italy – $12 million. The Germany met 90% of its demands through domestic producers. Growth rate of the European market is estimated at 10 to 15% per year.

In future the main trend influencing the industry will be laser source prices. The prices are dropping. There appear lasers of modular construction. The complexity of laser machines is rising. Multi-axes systems are in more use now. Recently 7-axis CNC laser machining center has been introduced. In addition to X, Y and Z axes, there are two rotary axes, A and C, and two more linear axes, U and V, to give a trepanning motion to the laser.

Space Cooling

A new method of cooling that can generate cryogenic temperatures of 200° С below zero without the use of electricity and with almost no moving parts has been tested at the jet propulsion Laboratory in Pacadena, California. The refrigerator used for the purpose was recently tested to –253° C, only 20 degrees above absolute zero, the lowest possible temperature.

In space such cooling system could increase the life of future space station refueling ports by cooling the large liquid-hydrogen fuel tanks which are likely to be in service.

In future earth applications it could be used for cooling hydrogen-powered cars and planes, as well as for cooling superconducting motors and computers.

According to JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) experts the key lies in the use of hydrides, materials that interact with hydrogen. These materials absorb tremendous amounts of hydrogen gas at room temperature. The engineers of JPL have taken advantage of this property to build a series of devices that act as compressors and provide a continuous cooling stream of liquid hydrogen.

The system saves weight in space since it can use direct solar heat instead of electricity from heavier, inefficient electric systems. Because it has so few moving parts and uses the same supply of gas in a closed cycle, it could operate for many decades. Because of its long potential lifetime, the system could be used to cool infrared sensors' during missions to the other planets, which may take 10 years or more to complete.

Manned Systems for the Exploration of the Solar System

The space station era was opened with the launch of the Soviet Union's Salyut 1. In all, there were five first-generation Salyut space stations and two second-generation ones. Then in 1986, the Soviet Union successfully launched its even more advanced space station, Mir.

The Soviet Union took a slow but steady route to establishing a permanent human presence in space with remarkable results. The Western World, on the other hand, has taken a totally different route.

In 1973, two years after Salyut 1, the United States launched Skylab, the Western World's first space station. It was used for three highly successful missions. The years 1975 to 1981 were spent developing the Space Shuttle, a program that, through Spacelab, also brought Europe into the manned spaceflight area. This reusable space laboratory sponsored by the European Space Agency made its first flight in 1983 after ten years of studies and development programs.

In 1984 a formal decision was made to build a space station for the Western World. The European Manned Space Programme is to begin in 1995 with the aim of having the European space station in initial operation by the year 2002. It is supposed that there will be three stages in the implementation of the programme.

During 2002 to 2005 the European space station will operate in a semiautomatic mode. A crew of two to three astronauts is expected to carry out two missions annually to the space station, each mission lasting three to four months. After a year of operation a larger laboratory module will be added. The mission will be increased up to six months for a crew of three.

During 2005 to 2010 the station will be permanently manned, with three person crews exchanged every four to six months.

By the year 2010 and beyond the European space station will have become a multifunctional laboratory for a wide spectrum of scientific studies. It is supposed to be used to improve space technology in such areas as electric power generation, robotics, life support systems, com­munications and the Earth observation sensors. In addition, it will function as a base for servicing other spacecrafts.

Further, the space station will be a transportation means for flights to and from the Earth as well as to launch lunar and planetary missions. Thus, the space station system could establish and support both a lunar base and a Mars mission, and eventually could be an element in support of an international, global settlement of mankind in space.

Living Aboard the Space Shuttle

We often see the cosmonauts carry out their complicated work in space, but what do they do in their off-duty hours? What do they eat, where do they sleep?

One of the main features of the Shuttle is the relatively low forces of gravity during launch and reentry. These are about 3 g, that is within the limits that can be withstood by people.

Its living accommodation is relatively comfortable. The crew cabin is 71.5 m. There are two floors inside the cabin. On the top level, the commander and pilot monitor and control sophisticated equipment. Behind their seats is a work area where the crew can carry out experiments.

The bottom level is the living area. It contains facilities for sleeping, eating and waste disposal.

Living in such a kind of cabin requires only ordinary clothing. Air pressure is the same as the Earth's at sea level. This air is made of 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen. The air is cleaner than the Earth's. Temperature can be regulated between 16° and 32° С

The Shuttle meals are eaten in a small dining area consisting of a table and restraints (ограничители) which function as chairs in zero-gravity. Meals are served in a special tn.y which separates the different food containers and keeps them from floating around in the weightless cabin. Most foods can be eaten with ordinary spoons and forks as long as there are no sudden starts and stops.

Just as on Earth recreation and sleep are important to good health in space. Different games, books and tape-recorders to listen to music are available.

In zero-gravity there is no "up" position and the cosmonaut is oriented in the sleeping bag as if he or she were sleeping up. Now beds are built into the walls with an individual light, communications, fan, sound suppression, blanket and sheets. They even have pillows.

Time Travel and New Universes

It is known that for a long time well before Albert Einstein scientists were studying the ideas that seemed strange. Consider a few of such ideas now accepted by the scientific community: clocks that tick slower when they are on rockets in outer space, black holes with the mass of a million stars compressed into a volume smaller than that of atom and subatomic particles whose behaviour depends on whether they are being watched.

But of all strange ideas in physics, perhaps, the strangest one is the hole in the structure of space and time, a tunnel to a distant part of the universe. American researchers have determined that it will apparently be possible in principle for mankind to create an entirely new universe by using the idea of wormhole (ход, прорытый червем) connection. Such a universe will automatically create its own wormhole, squeeze through it, and then close the hole after it.

Although to many people such an idea may seem useless and fantastic, it can help scientists to develop their imagination and explore how flexible the laws of physics are. It is such an idea that could give answers to some of the fundamental questions of cosmology: how the universe began, how it works and how it will end.

The idea of wormhole comes directly from the accepted concepts of general relativity. In that theory A. Einstein proved that very massive or dense objects distort space and time around them. One possible d stortion is in the form of a tube that can lead anywhere in the universe - even to a place billions of light years away. The name "wormhole" comes about by analogy: imagine a fly on an apple. The only way the fly can reach the apple's other side is the long way over the fruit's surface. But a worm could make a tunnel through the a .viand thus shorten the way ccrsideratly. A worrrhole in space h the same kind of tunnel; it is a shortcut from one part of the universe to another that reduces the travel time to about zero.

In fact, instantaneous travel leads to the idea of wormhole as time machine. If it were possible to move one end of a wormhole at nearly the speed of light, then, according to general relativity, time at that end would slow down and that part of the tunnel would be younger than the other end. Anything moving from the faster-aging end of the wormhole to the slower one would essentially go backward on time. The type of travel, however, could be nothing like the mechanical time machine described by H. Wells. It is difficult to imagine how a human being could move through a wormhole, since it would theoretically be narrower than an atom and it would tend to disappear the instant it formed.

Superconductivity

According to the prominent scientist in this country V. L. Ginzburg the latest world achievements in the field of superconductivity mean a revolution in technology and industry. Recent spectacular breakthroughs' in superconductors may be compared with the physics discoveries that led to electronics and nuclear power. They are likely to bring the mankind to the threshold of a new technological age. Prestige, economic and military benefits could well come to the nation that first masters this new field of physics. Superconductors were once thought to be physically impossible. But in 1911 superconductivity was discovered by a Dutch physicist K. Onnes, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1913 for his low-temperature research. He found the electrical resistivity of a mercury wire to disappear suddenly when cooled below a temperature of 4 Kelvin (-269°C). Absolute zero is known to be 0 K. This discovery was a completely unexpected phenomenon. He also discovered that a superconducting material can be returned to the normal state either by passing a sufficiently large current through it or by applying a sufficiently strong magnetic field to it. But at that time there was no theory to explain this.

For almost 50 years after K. Onnes' discovery theorists were unable to develop a fundamental theory of superconductivity. In 1950 physicists Landau and Ginzburg made a great contribution to the development of superconductivity theory. They introduced a model which proved to be useful in understanding electromagnetic properties of superconductors. Finally, in 1957 a satisfactory theory was presented by American physicists .which won for them in 1972 the Nobel Prize in physics. Research in superconductors became especially active since a discovery made in 1986 by IBM scientists in Zurich. They found a metallic ceramic compound to become a superconductor at a temperature well above the previously achieved record of 23 K.

It was difficult to believe it. However, in 1987 American physicist Paul Chu informed about a much more sensational discovery: he and his colleagues produced superconductivity at an unbelievable before temperature 98 К in a special ceramic material. At once in all leading laboratories throughout the world superconductors of critical temperature 100 К and higher (that is, above the boiling temperature of liquid nitrogen) were obtained. Thus, potential technical uses of high temperature superconductivity seemed to be possible and practical. Now some scientists are trying to find a ceramic that works at room temperature. But getting superconductors from the laboratory into production will be no easy task. While the new superconductors are easily made their quality is often uneven. Some tend to break when produced, others lose their superconductivity within minutes or hours. All are extremely difficult to fabricate into wires. Moreover, scientists lack a full understanding of how ceramics become superconductors. This fact makes developing new substances largely a random process. This is likely to continue until theorists give a fuller explanation of low superconductivity is produced in the new materials.

An Encyclopedia on a Tiny Crystal

Scientists have discovered that a laser beam can be effectively used to record alphanumeric data and sound on crystals. According to Russian researchers a method for recording information on crystals by means of a laser has already been developed, but advanced technologies are needed to make it commercially applicable.

At present researchers are looking for the most suitable chemical compounds to be used as data storages and trying to determine optimum recording conditions. Theoretically, the entire "Great Soviet Encyclopedia" can be recorded on a single tiny crystal.

As far back as 1845, Michael Faraday discovered that a light beam reverses its polarization as it passes through a magnetized crystal. Scientists of our day have used this phenomenon to identify crystalline materials capable of storing information. Lasers have been successfully employed to record information on and read it off.

No ideal data storage crystal has yet been found, but it is obvious now that the future of computer engineering lies in lasers and optoelectronics. As paper gave way to magnetic tape, so the latter is to be replaced by tiny crystals.

Science and International Cooperation

One of the most striking features of modern science is the increasing tendency towards closer cooperation between scientists and scientific organizations (institutions) all over the world. In fact, it is becoming more and more evident that many of the problems that affect the world today cannot be solved without joining scientific efforts and material resources on a world-wide scale. The exploration of space, world finance, global environment protection problems and the development of new sources of power, such as atomic energy, are the examples с г areas of scientific research which are so costly and complicated that it is difficult for a single country to solve them efficiently and in a short period of time. The renewal of international scientific cooperation was demonstrated in the sharing of data which were obtained by Russian, Japanese and European space probes in 1986 on Halley's comet.

Many countries were successfully cooperating on a programme called Intercosmos and had already launched 23 Intercosmos satellites, 11 vertical geophysical rockets and a large number of satellites. Space exploration programmes are being conducted between Russia and Austria, India, France, Sweden and other countries. Joint manned flights by Russian and foreign cosmonauts included citizens from numerous countries. 12 international crews have worked in orbit and carried out more than 200 scientific experiments.

Everyone is interested in the possibility of Russia – USA cooperation in space exploration. Joint scientific ventures (программы) for the benefit of all mankind are a sign of mutual trust in human cooperation that can only strengthen peace. Space is our last frontier and we have the opportunity now to prevent it from becoming another source of conflict. If we began to establish a cooperative relationship in space today, this dream could become a reality. Russia and the United States can and must overcome their differences. It is necessary to understand that a state of permanent animosity (вражда) is not constructive for either side. There is no doubt that improved relations between these countries and cooperation, especially in the latest technology will continue to develop for the benefit of all mankind. Having obtained the enormous power of nuclear weapons to destroy the world, we have no longer an alternative.

Optical Technology

One of the most interesting developments in telecommunication is the rapid progress of optical communication where optical fibers are replacing conventional telephone wires and cables. Just as digital technologies greatly improved the telephone system, optical communication promises a considerable increase in capacity, quality, performance and reliability of the global telecommunication network. New technologies such as optical fibers will increase the speed of telecommunication and provide new, specialized information service. Voice, computer data, even video images, will be increasingly integrated into a single digital communication network capable to process and transmit virtually any kind of information.

It is a result of combining two technologies: the laser, first demonstrated in 1960, and the fabrication 10 years later of ultra-thin silicon fibers which can serve as lightwave conductors. With the further development of very efficient lasers plus continually improved techniques to produce thin silica fibers of incredible transparency, optical systems can transmit pulses of light as far as 135 kilometers without the need for amplification or regeneration.

At present high-capacity optical transmission systems are being installed between many major US cities at a rapid rate. The system most widely used now operates at 147 megabits (thousand bits) per second and accommodates 6,000 circuits over a single pair of glass fibres (one for each direction of transmission). This system will soon be improved to operate at 1.7 gigabits (thousand million bits) per second and handle 24,000 telephone channels simultaneously.

A revolution in information storage is underway with optical disk technology. The first optical disks appeared in the early 1970-s. They were and are used to record videofilms, but in a continuous spiral rather than digitally.

The first digital optical disks were produced in 1982 as compact disks for music. They were further developed as a storage medium for computers. The disks are made of plastics coated with aluminium. The information is recorded by using a powerful laser to imprint bubbles on the surface of the disk. A less powerful laser reads back the pictures, sound or information. An optical disk is almost indestructible and can store about 1000 times more information than a plastic disk of the same size.

The latest optical disk development is a system which enables computer users to record their own information on a glass or plastic disk coated with a thin film of tellurium. Such a disk can store 200 megabytes (200 million characters).

Besides, it is reported that an optical equivalent of a transistor has been produced and intensive research on optical electronic computers is underway at a number of US corrinies as well as in countries around the world.